Process for the production of hydrogen.



' introduced NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HOWARD LANE. or BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND, as'srenoa TCINTERNATIONALE wassnnsrorr axrmnensnnnscmrr, or rnanxronr-on-rnn-mam, GERMANY, A

CORPORATION OF GERMANY.

PROCESS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF HYDROGEN.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 18, 1913.

NoDrawing. Original application filed June 16, 1910, Serial No. 572,411. Divided and this application filed December 9, 1911.

i the county of Warwick, England, have invented certain new and useful. Improvements in a Process for the Production of Hydrogen, of which the following is a specificatlon.

This application is a division of my application for patent for the same inventionfiled the 16th June 1910 Serial No. 57 2,411.

This invention relates to the well-known method of produemg hydrogen in which a metal is alternately oxidize ess in consequence of't e steam admitted to the-retort during the oxidation stage coming 3 into contact with the reducing gas admitted during the previous reduction sta e and with "the :su fur carbon,etc., associat with and into the retort bysald gas, the

- result of which contact being the formation 7 of sulfuretedhydro en, sulfurous acid, carbon d1ox1d etc., an consequent contamination of hydrogen produced'by the action of the steam.. p

The object of my invention is to avoid this disadvantage nd to this end it consists in a method of carrying the process into effect according to which-the whole of thereducing gas, as well as -the sulfur carbon and other impurities associated with said gas may be I got rid of between the two phases of theprocess. I The invention is carried into practice as follows. The process being continuous it by steam and 1,6 deoxidized by a reducing gas. In practice 3 it has hitherto been found impossible to obtain a sufliciently pure roduct by this. procserial No. 664,809.

will be assumed that the metal has just beenoxidized durin' the hydro en producing phase. The sul ur, carbon an other impunties left by the preceding reduction phase are thereupon got rid of by admitting air under pressure to the retort and the products of combustion being discharged into the atmosphere. The admission of air to the retort and the dischargeof the products of combustion are then out 01f a'nd reducin gas admitted and passed through and out o the retort to a gas-washing and regenerating apparatus. When the reduction stage has been completed the admission of the reducing gas to the retort and its dischargev from the retort to the gas washing and regenerating apparatus 1s then cut off and steam admitted. As a certain proportion of reducing gas will then be present impure hydrogen will be produced and this is al-' lowed to escape to waste, until the product is found to be sufiiciently pure. Thereupon the outlet to the atmosphere is closed and the hydrogen passed into a storage tank. Claim.

The process of producing hydrogen in a heated retort, which consists in deoxidizing a metal oxid within said retort by means of a reducing gas, in then oxidizing the deoxidized metal by means of steam, and in then introducing a blast of oxygen in the form of air'into the retort and then again deox1d1zducing gas as described.

p HOWARD LANE. Witnesses:

H. D. Jameson, 0. J. WORTH:

ing the oxidized metal by means of the re- 

